Former Red Sox pitching prospect Daniel Bard has had a rough go of it with the Hickory Crawdads, the Single-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. The 28-year-old right-hander allowed four runs without recording an out in Sunday’s appearance against the Lakewood Blueclaws, pushing his ERA up to 175.50 in two-thirds of an inning.
Perhaps more impressively, Bard has allowed 13 runs all without allowing a hit. Against the Blueclaws, Bard walked two and hit two batters, pushing his total over four appearances up to nine and seven, respectively.
The control issues are nothing new for Bard. In 59 1/3 innings at the big league level for the Red Sox in 2012, Bard walked 43 batters. He walked two batters in an inning of work in the big leagues last season, and 27 in 15 1/3 innings in the minors. Bard suffered from a strained abdomen, which knocked him out for more than three months last season, and underwent thoracic outlet surgery this past January.
